


Manipulated

by EverybodyLovesEggsy



Series: To Be Continued...? [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, But he is really only mentioned, Evil Albus Dumbledore, Hermione Granger Bashing, Hurt/Comfort, Implied sub Severus Snape, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Its just based on Sev's personality in this one, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, May Continue Story Later, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Nothing Sexual, One Shot, Pre-Slash, Ron Weasley Bashing, The bashing is pretty minor for those two but its important, depending on how you look at it, or just Pre-Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:54:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26172283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EverybodyLovesEggsy/pseuds/EverybodyLovesEggsy
Summary: "He started going through his memories. He looked at his memories with his new insight and saw the glaring holes in Dumbledore's stories about Potter's life." - From Chapter 4, Choices Have Side Effects, by elvirakittiesWhat if Harry discovers the truth about Dumbledore, and Severus becomes suspicious of his own reactions to things?Will continue story, when inspiration strikes, but for now, enjoy my oneshot :)
Relationships: Harry Potter & Severus Snape, Harry Potter/Severus Snape
Series: To Be Continued...? [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1988845
Comments: 56
Kudos: 302
Collections: Harry y Severus





	Manipulated

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Choices Have Side Effects](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13900644) by [elvirakitties](https://archiveofourown.org/users/elvirakitties/pseuds/elvirakitties). 



> This is based specifically off the quote I put in my summary from elvirakitties' story, when Severus is writing out a timeline (you will see which part I am talking about if you read the story). When I read that scene, my brain just immediately thought, what if Severus found his reactions not to be in character while he was writing the timeline, leading to him discovering memory charms and the like? So, this one shot is born. Hope you all like!

Severus was confused about what Potter had told and showed him. However, he couldn’t deny the truth he had seen.

After the pensieve incident the previous year, he had wanted nothing to do with the boy, but Potter had cornered him. The boy then proceeded to apologize for looking in his pensieve and informed him that they needed to talk. It was during this talk that Potter told him he wasn’t the spoiled prince Severus thought he was, revealing that he had grown up with Petunia (the spiteful hag) and her husband, both of whom hated magic. He then explained that he had overheard Granger and Weasley complaining to one another about Potter when they didn’t think was around (the idiots), and talked about Dumbledore’s plan to have him and Potter killed along the Dark Lord.

When Severus didn’t believe him, the boy handed over a vial of memories with proof, telling him he’d be by after dinner the next day when Severus believed him. It wasn’t until after classes, did he get the chance to watch them. Severus was horrified when he was booted out of the pensieve after the memories (some of which surprisingly included Potter’s home life) finished. He had sat down on his couch in his quarters, trying to process what he learned, when confusion came over him. How had he been deceived by Dumbledore, or better yet, Granger and the youngest Weasleys so easily? Especially since he was a spy? How had he missed the evidence of abuse on the boy? He remembered wondering why the boy was so small and wary… had he willfully ignored it due to his hate of Potter Senior? He didn’t think so as he remembered keeping an open mind about the boy since he was also Lily’s son… until that first potions class when he had suddenly decided that Potter was just like his father, before any interaction between them could occur.

Severus sat up quickly with a frown. For such a dramatic change in attitude, he would’ve had to have been doused with a hate potion or hit with a very strong compulsion charm. He highly doubted that he had failed to notice someone attempting to douse him considering he was a Potions Master; he would have smelt it before he even picked up his cup. That left the charm.

Not liking the thought at all, Severus positioned himself as he usually did when meditating, not bothering to move off the couch. He closed his eyes and delved deep into his mind and magic.

* * *

When Professor Snape didn’t show up at dinner the night after giving the man his memories, Harry was concerned. He knew hearing that Dumbledore planning your death, on top of all of your pre-conceived notions being shattered, would be shocking for anyone. But for Snape to miss dinner (when he usually didn’t) because of it, the man either didn’t think he could keep from giving the game away (which Harry highly doubted due to the man’s position as spy) or he was so angry or shocked that he had missed the meal unintentionally. He had no doubts that Snape would be convinced of the truth with his memories, and he was confident that he could trust his professor not to give him away to anyone.

After looking into Professor Snape’s pensieve last year, he had lost any doubts about trusting the man. Despite what his dad had done to Snape when he attended Hogwarts, the professor had continuously protected him anyways. He didn’t particularly blame Snape for hating him between not only who his father was, but also because he had been led to believe Harry had grown up the same way as his dad; he did hope that the professor seeing how wrong he was about his home life would allow the man to begin to tolerate him at the very least, though.

It was with that final thought that Harry finished his dinner and exited the Great Hall. As had been happening since he had told his ‘friends’ off for ignoring him all summer, knowing he had just lost his Godfather (he had been heading to make up with them when he overheard them, so he just continued to act like it was that that was still bothering him), he noticed Granger and Weasley began following him. He walked for a bit before ducking into an alcove that the two didn’t know about. After they passed, Harry pulled his invisibility cloak and Marauder’s Map out of the robe pocket he had spelled bottomless (for exactly this reason) after overhearing his friends. He quickly made his way down to the dungeons. Harry followed the map down to where he saw the professor’s name, aware that the room Snape was in had to be the man’s personal quarters since they weren’t his office; he would have hesitated to go there, but they really needed to talk, and the rooms were probably better protected from their being discovered anyways. Besides, he _had_ warned Snape that he would be stopping by after dinner.

Harry checked that the hallway was empty, before reaching out to knock on the portrait that he knew to be the entrance to Snapes quarters. He stood there waiting for Snape to let him in, frowning when nothing happened. Harry looked down at the map and saw that Professor Snape hadn’t moved. In fact, he hadn’t moved since he opened up the map. Frowning, Harry knocked again, but this time keeping an eye on the map. When the professor still didn’t move, he became concerned. Thankfully, the portrait’s guardian was a snake, so he was able to convince it to open the door by promising (which was magically binding in Parseltongue, he had discovered while talking to other snakes previously) he had no intentions of hurting Snape.

When the door opened, Harry swiftly made his way inside, removing the cloak once the door was shut. The first thing he saw, was the Professor was sitting cross-legged on the couch. Knowing he was invading the man’s privacy enough as it was, Harry didn’t bother looking around as he tried to get Snape’s attention.

“Professor? You didn’t answer your door…”

When the man didn’t so much as flinch, Harry frowned. Why couldn’t Snape hear him? Carefully, half-afraid the man would suddenly start yelling at him for intruding, the Gryffindor moved closer to his professor. As he did so, he noticed Professor Snape’s eyes were closed, and his breathing was deep and even, as if he was asleep.

“Professor Snape?”

Still no reaction. Harry scrutinized the man’s appearance, trying to discern if something was wrong. He noticed that there was a thin sheen of sweat on Snape’s brow, but other than that, the man seemed fine. Deciding that he would wait for now, Harry sat on a nearby chair at just curiously watched his professor.

* * *

Severus was horrified. The only bindings of any sort he should have found within himself, was the protection vow to Potter, and the Dark Mark to the Dark Lord. Instead, what he found were compulsions and bindings wrapped around his magic. He quickly began to untangle the strands attached to his core, being extra careful with the bindings since he didn’t know what parts of his magic was affected. He knew he would need to drink a full purging potion to get rid of the remnants of the magic so the strands couldn’t simply be reattached once he was done.

When he was finished, Severus checked his core one more time to make sure there was no more invading magic attached, before moving to his mind. He had no memory (which he should with the way bindings hurt the victim when being applied) of the spells that would have been required to control his magic so deeply, so he _knew_ his mind had to have been tampered with. The potions professor swiftly made his way through his mind, looking for any evidence of blocked memories. He was about to give up when he found what he was looking for. Just past his strongest and last Occlumency barrier (which hid his most important memories) he found a door that shouldn’t be there. It had chains and locks all over it, preventing him from breaking down the block. Furious that his mind, which he prided for being impenetrable, was tampered with, Severus began hammering at the locked door with everything he had. He was _not_ exiting him mind until he had freed the memories and determined who had done this to him. He ignored the voice whispering Dumbledore and focused on his task at hand.

* * *

As time passed, the sheen of sweat on Snape’s brow began to become worse. The professor was dripping with sweat within the half an hour that Harry watched. Then, slowly, he saw Snape’s body begin to droop with exhaustion. Harry was becoming extremely concerned, debating whether or not to go to Madam Pomfrey, despite the fact that he had no reason to be in his professor’s quarters.

Just as Harry had about decided to get Pomfrey, Professor Snape gasped, eyes snapping open dileriously, as the man’s body gave out from exhaustion. Seeing that his professor was about to pitch towards the floor, Harry swiftly got up and stopped him from falling.

“Are you okay, Professor?” He asked worriedly, trying to help the man to lay back on the couch.

“Harry. Harry.”

Surprised to hear his first name coming from Snape, Harry looked at the man’s face and saw the slightly delirious gaze on him. He frowned in concern, “Yeah?”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I should have noticed, I _did_ notice but compulsions and memory charms… Harry, I’m sorry.”

Extremely unnerved by the usually well-articulated man’s babbling, Harry quickly interrupted, “Wait, stop. Professor, I don’t understand what you’re saying. You’re exhausted, so why don’t you lie down–”

“No, you need to know,” Snape cut in, sounding a little bit more like himself now that he was calming down a little, “I couldn’t figure out how I didn’t notice the abuse, so I checked my core and found compulsions and bindings, then I checked my memories, and I was memory charmed. I broke the compulsions and charms and remembered – I had noticed the signs when the compulsions wore off so I confronted him, and he memory charmed. Harry, I’m sorry, I had no idea, I’m sorry.”

Seeing that Snape looked like he was going to continue apologizing as despair and self-loathing filled his eyes and body language, Harry reacted without thinking. He moved forward and hugged his professor tightly. The man stopped talking tensed up, making Harry worry Snape was going to push him off and yell at him – though, Harry thought he’d be a little relieved at his professor acting normal again – but after a moment, Snape relaxed. He felt the man grip onto his shirt with his fists, but Harry didn’t mind, just continued to hold onto his professor in comfort, hoping to express that he didn’t blame him. After another moment, he could feel Snape was shuddering as the man pressed his face into Harry’s shoulder; he would have thought the man was crying if it wasn’t for the lack of noise or the lack of tears soaking through his shirt. Harry just held the older man, instinctively bringing his hand up to the back of Snape’s neck, gently rubbing the tension away.

As time passed, Harry began to lose feeling in his legs from his position kneeling in front of the potions professor, but he ignored it. He stayed right there, not worried about anything but the overwhelmed shuddering man clinging to him. Knowing the man had been tampered with made any lingering blame he felt for the potions professor disappear. This was entirely Dumbledore’s fault; he would regret the day that he brought the proud, passionate, potions genius that he had learned to respect down to this state. Harry would make sure of it.

* * *

When Severus broke the blocks, he quickly became overwhelmed with memories, snapping him out of his meditation slightly violently. His body was so exhausted that he couldn’t keep himself upright, even if he had the presence of mind to do so. He was still being overwhelmed with flashes of seeing the signs and angrily confronting the Headmaster, over and over and over when he felt himself pitch forward.

Luckily something strong and firm stopped him from falling. He hadn’t realized he had been babbling until the memories receded slightly and Harry was telling him to lie down, but Severus couldn’t. He needed to explain, make sure Harry knew he would never have let the abuse go on, let his dislike of his father blind him so thoroughly.

As he explained, Severus began to feel more aware, the memories no longer plaguing him, but he couldn’t stop himself from feeling so utterly disgusted that, compulsions or not, it was still some part of him that added to Harry’s abuse – only verbally, but Severus knew better than most that words could do so much more damage than fists sometimes.

Severus’s thoughts cut off in surprise when Harry wrapped his arms around him. He was shocked unable to remember the last time someone held him like this, if ever. When Harry continued to hug him, Severus felt himself relax into the embrace, slowing down his thoughts. Harry didn’t hate him. After everything those Merlin damned charms had made him do, Harry didn’t hate him. He didn’t even realize when he had moved to grip Harry’s shirt until he could feel the soft fabric between his fingers. As soon as he felt it, he became desperate not to let go. Luckily, Harry didn’t move, allowing him to grip his shirt like a child.

He remained where he was, relishing the contact when his mind fully connected the fact that Dumbledore – the man he had begged to save Lily, the one he had trusted with his love for her and the care he had felt for her son that nobody else knew about – had manipulated him into harming his heart-sister’s son, the boy he swore to Lily he would protect. Severus felt himself begin to shudder in a mix of horror, anger, anguish, and so many other emotions he didn’t even know he could feel. He quickly pressed his face into Harry’s shoulder, trying to shut the feelings out – they were too much, _too much_. Severus was afraid he was going to start hyperventilating on top of everything else when he felt firm fingers at the back of his neck. The gently soothed away the tension there, helping him in his effort to calm. Slowly, Severus’s chaotic emotions began to subside, thought beginning to slow once more, his shudders following suit. After a few minutes, the shudders disappeared, and Severus felt more like himself than he remembered feeling in a _very_ long time. Not since before Lily died at the very least.

Severus swallowed the lump of sorrow he still felt for his friend. She would be furious to know what Dumbledore had done to her son, what he had forced Severus to do to him.

He felt his own fury, which had been tangled up in so many other emotions before, begin to rise within him. Dumbledore would regret the day that he _dared_ to manipulate him, to harm _Harry_. Severus would make sure of it; he had a pretty good feeling that Harry was thinking the same thing. They would get revenge for what they’d been put through for the past fifteen years. Together.

**Author's Note:**

> Would love to hear if you guys think I should continue! If I do decide to, I will probably write out a whole story with the background part mentioned in this one shot, as well as continue for after this scene, but it won't be until I finish my story Fixing the Future. However, would still love to hear what you guys think :)  
> Hope you all enjoyed it!
> 
> *so I have heard a lot of positive feed back, so I just wanted to add that when/if I make a continuation, I will post an update on this story so any fans will know that I have written more so don't forget to subscribe if you are hoping for more :)


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